European Circuit Annual Conference Bordeaux 2024

The European Circuit of the Bar (UK and Irish Barristers, Solicitors, Advocates, Judges, Academics and students) recently held their very successful 2024 conference in Bordeaux. Delegates came from France, Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Ukraine and Canada.

The European Circuit has existed since 2001 as an English-language forum open to lawyers across Europe focusing on cross-border and comparative law approaches to legal disputes and dispute resolution, as well as the practicalities of cross-border practice. The annual conference always includes a visit to a local court as well a fantastic social programme.

The September 2024 annual conference, kindly hosted by the Barreau of Bordeaux, kicked off with a panel chaired by Barbara Mills KC (Vice Chair of the Bar of England and Wales), Darren Lehane SC (Vice Chair of the Bar of Ireland) and Robert Němec (President of the Czech Bar Association) who all outlined the severe strains on the legal profession caused by ever bigger case loads of increasingly complex cases with the gap between funding and work required widening. Thibault Saint-Martin (Avocat du Conseil de l’Ordre du Barreau de Bordeaux) reported similar problems in France, despite the French State having increased the resourcing of public law cases recently.

Other topics covered by the 6 conference panel sessions were: AI and technology – the question of liability; Litigating cross-border contracts – an art market perspective; Sports disputes in an Olympic year; Approaches to evidence (including arbitration); Family law: “orders without borders”; and Recent elections in France, UK and the EU and their impact on Law.

The social highlights included a fabulous drinks reception at Bordeaux Cité du Vin, a guided tour of the local First Instance and Appeal Courts and a fantastic gala diner on the banks of the Garonne looking over the river at the sun setting behind the stunning Bordeaux skyline.

Earlier this year the Circuit held a very successful spring conference on EU Competition and Commercial Law hosted by the Cour de Justice de l’Union Européenne (CJEU) in Luxembourg, which was even better attended than the 2023 conference hosted by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg which looked at developments in human rights migration law. The Circuit also hosted an event on “Constitutions as Guardrails for Society” in conjunction with with Kings College London at Middle Temple in spring 2024 and “Cross-Border Issues in Civil Litigation” in Manchester in December 2023.

Dialogue and professional friendship of lawyers and judges is crucial to share problem-sharing approaches in our stressed and changing work. Despite Brexit, European and international law touches all areas of law. Please join the European Circuit if you want to enjoy legal learning adventures and networking, in fantastic settings.

The Bar Standards Board seeks new lay and barrister Board members

The Bar Standards Board (BSB), the independent regulator for barristers and related specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales, is seeking to appoint two lay Board members and one barrister Board member.

The new Board members with others on the Board will lead the organisation through a time of far-reaching change in the legal services market and its regulation. Over the next ten years, barristers in England and Wales will continue to face major challenges including levels of public funding, changing consumer demands and expectations, and technological advances.  The BSB must ensure that its regulation is risk-based, proportionate and agile in a changing legal services and regulatory landscape.  It must also seek to promote equality and diversity at the Bar.

To meet these challenges the Bar Standards Board itself is reforming to become more proactive and consumer-focused in its approach to regulation and more efficient in its delivery of its regulatory functions.

The Board aims to have barrister members with a wide variety of practice backgrounds. We would particularly welcome applicants from the Circuits, from the Employed Bar and from the Young Bar.

For lay members, the Board is especially keen to appoint someone with experience of consumer advocacy, policy and/or engagement and someone with strong commercial expertise (ideally that would include change management in a commercial context as well as risk and finance at a strategic level).

We want the Bar to be as fully diverse as the society it serves, and we strive for diverse representation to be reflected across all areas of our organisation, including on our Board. We welcome applications from anyone regardless of age, experience, sexuality, religion, beliefs, disability or neurodiversity, ethnicity, race, gender, gender identity, marital status and socioeconomic background.

The appointments are remunerated, at a rate of £10,000 annually, for a time commitment of approximately two days per month.

The closing date for applications is midnight on 29 September 2024.

For further information, candidates should visit the Inclusive Boards website where they can download the candidate pack and application forms (supporting details and template application form).